- [Beth] My name is Beth
Schmidt and my organization is called Wishbone.org. I started Wishbone to actually
send low-income students on these after-school and summer programs that are otherwise, pretty much, cost-prohibitive for that demographic. If you look at schools,
they're the same as they were how many years ago, and
so, that right there, is a big red flag (laughs). If you can look at the
fact that we are teaching the same way we've taught for ever, that's an invitation for innovation. We have this stale system, right now, that needs reinvigorated. We need to bring technology and new ideas into the field of education in general. We're in the right place,
and I think we're bringing in the right kind of energy
with entrepreneurs who have been in the classroom. Teaching, in general, it's very similar to starting your own organization and really starting from scratch. The skill sets that were required to succeed in the classroom,
those same skill sets are actually transferable
to entrepreneurship. I don't think I would have
been able to start a company as easily as I did, and it wasn't easy but, as seamlessly as I did, if i didn't have that experience where you are constantly knocked-down and you have to get up,
it's just part of life. It's a tall order, and
I think those skill sets absolutely translate to
the resilience you need to build a company and fail
along the way (laughs). From childhood, we send
all of our students through this very
standard education system that just doesn't breed
that type of thinking and that type of excitement for learning, in putting passion at the
forefront of education. I think the more that we can do that, the more we are going to get
people who come out of school and think, "Anything's possible." The more that we can breed that energy, then that energy's going to continue when kids get out of school and realize that the world is open for
them to participate in. So if you can believe in
the potential for people to empower themselves and succeed, you have to believe that
we can change a system that's made up of people. I'm an eternal optimist about
the educational landscape. We've put all of our
energy into it financially, and also in terms of human capital, ideas and thoughts. It's a very special time. Strong leaders are going where
it's very difficult to go. If you believe in the potential of people, you have to believe in the potential of education in America. To me, they go hand-in-hand,
entrepreneurship and education. You have to have fresh ideas to change something that's
broken and, right now, education is a little bit broken (laughs).